Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Big Government on Steroids: Senate Bill Calls for Black Box Recorders on All New Cars

The same Senate bill, 1813, known as MAP-21, that calls for the Secretary of State to revoke or deny a passport to any US citizen that the IRS Commissioner deems as having 'seriously delinquent tax debt', also calls for, insection 31406 of the bill. the mandatory installation of 'black box' event recorders to be installed in every new passenger vehicle starting with model year 2015:

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require, beginning with model year 2015, that new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder that meets the requirements under that part...

(d) Revised Requirements for Event Data Recorders- Based on the findings of the study under subsection (c), the Secretary shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The rule--

(1) shall require event data recorders to capture and store data related to motor vehicle safety covering a reasonable time period before, during, and after a motor vehicle crash or airbag deployment, including a rollover;

(2) shall require that data stored on such event data recorders be accessible, regardless of vehicle manufacturer or model, with commercially available equipment in a specified data format;

(3) shall establish requirements for preventing unauthorized access to the data stored on an event data recorder in order to protect the security, integrity, and authenticity of the data; and

(e) Disclosure of Existence and Purpose of Event Data Recorder- The rule issued under subsection (d) shall require that any owner’s manual or similar documentation provided to the first purchaser of a passenger motor vehicle for purposes other than resale--

(1) disclose that the vehicle is equipped with such a data recorder...

(f) Access to Event Data Recorders in Agency Investigations- Section 30166(c)(3)(C) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘, including any electronic data contained within the vehicle’s diagnostic system or event data recorder’ after ‘equipment.’

Don't forget section (f), which adds new language to 49 US Code 30166 to allow the Secretary of Transportation to come inspect the black box if the car is an accident. The added language is in <<>> below:

49 USC 30166(c) Matters That Can Be Inspected and Impoundment.— In carrying out this chapter, an officer or employee designated by the Secretary of Transportation—...(3) at reasonable times, in a reasonable way, and on display of proper credentials and written notice to an owner, operator, or agent in charge, may—...(B) enter and inspect with reasonable promptness premises at which a vehicle or equipment involved in a motor vehicle accident is located;(C) inspect with reasonable promptness that vehicle or equipment <<, including any electronic data contained within the vehicle’s diagnostic system or event data recorder>>; and(D) impound for not more than 72 hours a vehicle or equipment involved in a motor vehicle accident.

One might wonder why the federal government needs to be involved in car accidents, but since the statute says they have to be "reasonable" there is no cause for concern.

49 CFR 563 has a table that shows all the types of information these things have to record.

Credentials No warrent no entry. This is the first step controling where you go and what you do. Sounds like violation of 4th ammendment like the recently shot down cop GPS activity and 5th ammendment where you can no be compelled to provide testimony against yourself.One would argue tha it is no ditterent than forced fingerprinting, DNA or a hair sample. This different, older cars wont have this so the 14th comes in under equal protection.

This has to do with enabling the DEA or other DHS agencies to interrogate the black box on demand to determine where the vehicle has been for a period of time before the interrogation.

This sidesteps the SC decision that police cannot install a tracking device without probably cause. This bill intends that an official pursuant to an investigation (accident or other) can interrogate the blackbox to determine a number of things about a vehicle prior to the interrogation. Practically speaking this means that anyone with the proper technical means (any LEO certainly, possibly others) can interrogate your vehicle covertly. If they find anything they have the option to then 'discover' (manufacture - common practice in impound-happy jurisdictions) probable cause, at which point your property (certainly) and your life/career/reputation (probably) are all toast - all with no hearing or conviction of anything under current laws.

Current required EDR data elements are:-Delta-V, longitudinal-Maximum delta-V,longitudinal-Time, maximum delta-V-Speed, vehicle indicated-Engine throttle, % full (or accelerator pedal, % full)-Service brake, on/off-Ignition cycle, crash-Ignition cycle,download-Safety belt status, driver-Frontal air bag warning lamp, on/off-Frontal air bag deployment, time to deploy, in the case of a single stage air bag, or time to first stage deployment, in the case of a multi-stage air bag, driver-Frontal air bag deployment, time to deploy, in the case of a single stage air bag, or time to first stage deployment, in the case of a multi-stage air bag, right front passenger-Multi-event, number of events (1,2)-Time from event 1 to 2-Complete file recorded(yes, no)

It should be noted, however, that while SB 1813 requires that the DOT change 49 CFR 563 to make EDR's mandatory, the 49 CRF 563 itself is administrative law ... which is to say that DOT can change it without Congress.

FWIW, the specification does NOT RECORD DATA ONLY FOR A FEW MILLISECONDS BEFORE CRASH. Some of the data elements are to be recorded for the life of the vehicle.

I would be interested to see what data elements SB1813 adds to the mandatory 15 I listed. So, geocoordinate fields are not MANDATORY today. But they may be added at some later time. And of course, the manufacturer may add the information to the EDR as a business spinoff (like ONSTAR) at any time.

Here is the kicker in the DOT FAQ that is recorded for a host of questions about what the EDR records:"Can EDRs record my conversations or a video?NHTSA does not require EDRs to contain any personal identification information."

The EDR's on current new cars CANNOT be disconnected BUT they can be made to read/put out GIBBERISH! Let them mandate these EDR's and let them think they control the content but they do NOT!ALGORYTHIM's will be made public to make them null & void!

ALGORYTHIM's will be made public to make them null & void! As with all data collecting laws if enough people implement the inevitable counter measures the department responsible can be snowed under by sheer amounts of data. It just means the people have to "grow a pair" as the saying goes. Anyway we are talking about some time in the future and if things go the way as predicted governments are going to have thier hands full with the revolution. Fingers crossed.

Not too long ago, Senator Kent Conrad was considering a device to measure miles driven in order to assess a "mileage" tax. Could this section of the bill be a wolf in sheeps clothing with a tax surprise attached to it? Beware of fine print in Senate bills.